In an interview with Tom Vanderbilt, author of the upcoming book Traffic :

"Then there’s the anonymity in traffic — there’s no one to spread rumors or gossip about you about how bad your behavior was — not to mention the lack of consequences for acting like an idiot. It’s all strikingly similar to the way we act on the internet, in what’s called the “online disinhibition effect.”

We can lurk behind screen names (our car and license plate), say nasty things about people (honk, give the finger), and then sign off and never be heard from again (drive away).

In a nice convergence of this, the website PlateWire allows people to anonymously insult others’ rude and unsafe behavior."

The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet is a great book written by associate professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, Daniel J. Solove, discussing how the internet affects privacy issues. This book also makes mention of PlateWire (p. 86)!

Wasn't that you leapfrogging through traffic, cutting people off and giving them the old one-finger salute? In fact, isn't that your licence plate posted online, along with a description of your car and a blog telling all about your atrocious driving?

Yes, listed right there on the Internet, for everybody to see, on one of those websites where people vent about encounters they've had with rude and reckless drivers, like you.

I can't stand slow drivers or that annoying guy in my political science class who can't seem to get enough of his own voice. I hate bad dates and Wal-Mart is the pits.

I could continue, but I'll tell you right now: I like to complain, and venting tends to be my only solution. From bad quiz grades to a runny nose, my friends and family are the first to get an earful of my sorrows.

Backseat drivers, Sunday drivers, whatever kind of driver you might verbally lash out at, you can relax. Here is an outlet for your road rage that is certain to improve public safety. It's not just bad drivers; you can reward good drivers in the process.

Yes, PlateWire's next version has taken much longer than I originally anticipated, but I am almost there. Currently polishing off the logic that will import and transform the data from the existing site into the new sites' data schema. Once that is done it's just a matter of a few tweaks in the license plate maker (users will now have the ability to add custom plates templates to be used when filing wires) and some tweaks to user registration and I'll be ready to launch the private beta.

Once again I want to thank everyone that has helped throughout this process, your feedback was invaluable!

I also wanted to share a screenshot of the new versions' Class Diagram (for the non technical, a Class Diagram is just a graphical representation of the logic that encompasses an application). As context, PlateWire's current versions' Class Diagram only has 6 objects.

"If you've ever found yourself furious at the thoughtless driver who cut you off, or sped right by, or tailgated and you felt the need to get them back? Well now you can... online with a website called PlateWire.com."

As PlateWire's popularity continues to grow, web sites of a similar nature are launching on a regular basis. After some discussion with other webmasters (including AboveAverageDriver.com's Chris) we came to the conclusion that this niche market would benefit from having one single clearinghouse to exchange messaging of license plates.

For instance, say Joe in California, witnesses Suzy's teenage daughter driving recklessly down the highway. Perhaps Joe does contact the authorities but they deem it low priority. So Joe goes home and send a "wire" to the plate, using AboveAverageDriver. Suzy on the other hand is registered on PlateWire to receive a notification if any of her plates are messaged. WIthout PlateXchange, Judy would have not received the message regarding her daughters reckless driving (unless she would have checked on AAD's website).

PlateXchange offers an Open Source system for web sites to communicate license plate packages amongst themselves.

So if you run a license plate based web site, or have a neat idea that you think would take off, but have avoided launching it, because others have something similar, now is your chance to participate in a growing network of niche web sites!

Well, PlateWire has survived its first year of existence and what a year it has been! It is interesting to note that shortly after launching, I received several comments from the general public claiming that I would have at least one lawsuit filed against the site in less than a years’ time; boy, am I glad they were wrong! Not only has PlateWire been widely publicized by the media, it has developed a unique community dynamic primarily compromised by forward thinking individuals that share a similar goal of a decidedly safer and enjoyable driving experience, far exceeding my initial expectations.

As the Internet continues to evolve, we are experiencing an overwhelming exposure to new concepts that revolve around the Internets’ powerful capacity to reach anyone, anywhere. This effect has in turn caused an “Information Revolution”; Information which was once owned and controlled by government and large corporations and only accessible through the proper channels, is now free to be created, modified, and shared across the world in the blink of an eye. Although we have already begun to experience some of the negative effects of this Information Revolution, such as private data being lost, leaked, or stolen due to negligent handling, the positive aspects have only begun to surface. It is my opinion that PlateWire is a prime example of how this new paradigm can be harnessed and applied towards real world situations, offering services and information access that would have previously been impossible. With that said, I am of the belief that PlateWire is here to stay and I am committing myself to developing the best possible tool, service, community that PlateWire can and will be.

Without delving too much into the new functionality, I’d like to point out some of the focus for the next version of PlateWire (V4); I believe that a dash of social networking will assist PlateWire’s community in getting to know each other better and collaborate.V4 will allow users who choose, to have public profiles, which will include pictures, links, registered plates, and anything else they would like to share with other members.

Wires: wires will no longer be anonymous. In order to begin building reliability and validity rules, I have arrived at the conclusion that your username should be attached to wires that you have filed. Of course, private information will always remain just that, private. No information will be given to third parties with anything short of a subpoena. Wires will also have a “Validity Score” which will be determined using several factors, including votes from the community.

Verification of identity: there will be 3 levels of identity verification, with email verification being the only mandatory one for participation. Mobile phone verification will act as the secondary method of identification. Users with higher levels of identity verification will receive a higher validity score on wires that they file. The highest level of validity will be given to users who have verified a home address through a PayPal process (~$5-$10).

Plate Registration: V4 will allow individuals, families, and businesses to register as many plates as they wish, and setup notifications via email or SMS at no cost. Although the site will recommend users with multiple plates to complete level 3 identity verification, it will not be required.

That covers a top level view of some of the major functionality changes, the design will also be updated to match, focusing on a clear and easy to use interface.

Although I was hoping to launch the beta of V4 before May 11th, time has been on short supply so this date has been pushed to mid-to late June.

Randy Shereda, 50, was driving home from his job as a transportation security supervisor. Suddenly, a pickup truck cut off his Chrysler LeBaron from the right, using the Spring Mountain Road exit lane on northbound Interstate 15.

Not long ago, all Shereda could do was add the motorist to his list of least-favorite people. Now, he adds a license plate to a long list at platewire.com, along with a description of the traffic transgression.

On Monday April 9th at 10:00am EST,UPDATED Thursday April 12th 9:45 EST - yours truly will be interviewed on The Lisa Birnbach Show.

About Lisa Birnbach:

"Lisa Birnbach is a busy mom of three who puts life into perspective with great conversations, guests, and non-stop social commentary. She delivers hot issues, politics, celebrity news, and more, with experience and intelligence."

It's been a hectic begining of the year, but things are finally starting to get into a groove. Today PlateWire reached a lifetime total of 5 million hits (The majority of the hits began after November)!

I've been busy working on a brand new interface, one that I feel will make PlateWire more useful and user-friendly. I am also considering allowing members who so choose, to create a public profile which would display wires and blogs filled, as well as their description and pic(s). I also plan to add private messaging for users, this way I won't have to be the relay for so many

Once the new version is ready for testing, I will be inviting "Core" members to test drive and kick the tires. If there are any small features or requests, please forward them to me now, before it's too late! J/K. PlateWire will continue to evolve and adapt, keeping the primary goal in mind, making the roads safer for all. Communication is key and I will be focussing on this and many other aspects moving forward.

To all Members that have sent me technical support request, please note I am not ignoring you. I am still in the process of setting up after the move and will do my best to answer all outstanding request by the end of this weekend.

In the process of correcting a nasty little bug reported by a frequent user, I have encountered an underlying problem in the code pertaining to the use of AJAX. I am working overtime to move important pieces of code in to pages without AJAX functionality (All this means is that the entire page will make a round trip to the server as opposed to the current in-page updates). I hope to have these fixes done soon and updated, I am positive this will corect 90%+ of the issues some users have experienced.

Once again, I want to thank everyone for the wonderful feedback and support!

I have received tons of response to my previous entry, with users pledging to pay for premium services or offering to make donations. The feedback has been wonderful and overwhelming. To respond I have now added a PlateWire donate page for US members. http://www.platewire.com/donate.aspx

To those members willing to give a donation of $25 or more, I will be granting a Lifetime membership status, which will include access to premium services (Once launched in early February) such as multiple plate registration and a broader view of statistics, amongst many other cool features.

Once again, thank you to all of you that have helped make PlateWire a great site, with so much more in store!

As things begin to take shape with PlateWire (Investor interest, funding, legalities, etc.) it is becoming quite obvious there is much to be done. Although PlateWire is currently covering it's own costs (Hosting and such), plus some, it still hasn't quite covered my salary, it will be a couple of months before it reaches that level.

Until then, I'd like to offer my services as a developer. If you or someone you know is in need of a Web Guru to develop a web based application, I'm your man!

Below you can find a link to my current resume. Please contact me if you need references or further details.

ABC's NightLine is working on a story based around sites like PlateWire. They captured some good footage of my basement office where PlateWire was born and asked some good questions. The show will air this Friday night, January 19th 2007.

Friday's Weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal had an excellent article title "The Snoop Next Door" (No transgression is too trivial to document online). Jennifer Saranow does a great job discussing web sites that have sprung up around similar concepts such as PlateWire.

This site was begun as a way to "let off steam" and report erratic driving at the same time. However, letting off steam does not include vulgarity and personal attacks against others who are enjoying the same privilege of posting as you are.

We recognize, and are grateful for, the attention that the national news media has garnered upon us. But, this also means that the eyes of the nation, and the world, are upon us via those same media operations. Do we really want the rest of the world to see us a a bunch of loud-mouthed, foul-mouthed cretins, whining and arguing amongst ourselves over which laws we want to obey and which ones are inconvenient to us? Do we want other, potentially influential visitors, to stay away because of these kindergarten antics?

I say a resounding NO! While we are against censorship, a sense of common good must prevail. And so, we are making a few changes, in reflection of the international community, of all ages, who may visit our site:

1) Profanity is forbidden. If you can't think of a better way to say it, use a dictionary or a thesaurus, or simply don't post. (#$!&* replacements will be tolerated where applicable)2) Debate is good, personal attacks against those you disagree with is not. If you wish to debate an issue, then stick to the issue, not the personality, intelligence, or other characteristics of the poster.3) When posting a wire, if you don't know the plate number, don't make up a cute saying. Put in the letters/numbers you DO know, and "X" out the rest. 4) Learn the difference between a WIRE and a BLOG entry. Wires are to inform the public about vehicles and the driving environment; Blogs are to discuss driving issues.5) Recognize that this is a dynamic site: it is learning, improving, and improvising constantly, at the will of the creator, in response to his visitors. Demands to change, pouting about design or usage issues, and general childishness will not be tolerated. If you want something different than what was originally designed into this site, then start your own...put your own effort, dollars, time, sweat, and frustration into doing your thing, rather than criticizing those who have already done it.

Violations of the above will result in removal of messages, wires, and/or, ultimately, the user.

I've been so busy working on the new site design that I completely missed the fact that this past weekend PlateWire passed 3 Million hits! The majority of this traffic has been since November 20th 2006, thats just over a months time! No wonder our Alexa rank has been climbing steadily!

Once again, I remind everyone that I am not a designer, but I did my best effort to make a cleaner more appealing layout until I can find a designer. I have made minor functionality improvements, with many more to come in the next couple of weeks.

Once again I want to thank everone for their feedback, I am honored that so many of you appreciate my hard work!